Polling began today in Parliament House and state capitals for electing a new President. Pranab Mukherjee is all set to win the race to the Rashtrapati Bhavan, as the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) has the right numbers on its side. Former Lok Sabha speaker P.A. Sangma is the candidate of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA).

Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh and Congress president Sonia Gandhi accompanied Mukherjee as the leaders cast their ballot. 

Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi also voted, along with Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) President and Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar.

From the opposition, BJP leaders Murli Manohar Joshi, Anurag Thakur, Yashodhara Raje, Biju Janata Dal (BJD) leaders B. Mahtab, Baijayant Panda, P.K. Patsani, were among the early voters.

As many as 4,896 lawmakers - 776 MPs and 4,120 MLAs - are eligible to vote in Parliament and state assemblies. The total vote value is 10.98 lakh and a candidate needs to get 5,49,442 vote value to win if all the lawmakers exercise their franchise.

Mukherjee who is expected to get ~65% of the vote value. Besides the UPA and its four supporting parties - SP, BSP, RJD, Janata Dal (S) - NDA members like the JD(U) and the Shiv Sena along with the CPI(M) and Forward Bloc have declared their support for Mukherjee.

UPA ally Trinamool Congress, which first opposed Mukherjee's choice, backtracked on that decision recently. TMC chief Mamata Banerjee announced on Tuesday that her party will reluctantly vote for Mukherjee in the Presidential poll. She, however, added that Mukherjee is a poor second choice. Former President APJ Kalam was TMC's first choice.

Sangma received initial backing from Naveen Patnaik's Biju Janata Dal (BJD) and Jayalalithaa's AIADMK. The BJP and Akali Dal decided to back Sangma, who quit the NCP, the party he founded with Sharad Pawar, to contest the Presidential election. Sangma is expected to win only ~35% of the votes.

The counting of votes will be done on Sunday.

President Pratibha Patil's five-year tenure ends on July 25.